Question 1 Maneesha has asked: OUR BELOVED MASTER, LANGUAGE IS USUALLY ABOUT THE COMMUNICATION OR TRANSFER OF IDEAS; AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF MOST RELIGIONS SEEMS TO BE THAT ONE DOES NOT NEED TO BE GIVEN SOMETHING. HOWEVER, ZEN IS DIFFERENT IN THAT IT APPEARS TO BE SAYING ONE ONLY NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ONE ALREADY HAS. IS THIS WHY YOU HAVE CALLED ZEN "THE LANGUAGE OF EXISTENCE"? Maneesha, you are right. Zen has nothing to give to you, but has something to take away -- your personality, your mask, your false identities. Zen has to rip you away, so that only the existence, pure existence remains unpolluted in you. It does not bother about philosophizing. Its concern is experiencing, its concern is existential. That's why I have called it "the language of existence." All other languages are man's languages -- for purposes of the mediocre and for purposes of the marketplace. Zen is not a marketplace phenomenon. It needs a tremendous courage to enter into one's own existence, leaving everything that one values so much. It does not want you to renounce the world, it simply wants you to renounce yourself, and just let the existence express and radiate through you. The Zen master, or buddha, does not speak, he only allows existence to sing its song. The buddha is just a flute, a bamboo with holes. Existence can sing any song that it wants; the flute does not interfere. The flute allows existence to commune with those who are capable of listening to the music that is flowing through it. Rinzai has been a very serious trip. My understanding of Zen is that it is full of laughter and giggles. It is not a serious concern at all. History records many examples of people in restaurants who have found flies in their soup. Professor Dingleberry, a world famous authority, has run a survey on the international situation; his findings are revealing. In America, if a diner finds a fly in his soup, he sends the dish back and complains to the manager. In English restaurants, the fly is carefully removed between finger and thumb, placed on the table, and then politely ignored for the rest of the meal. In France, the fly-finder consumes the soup, but pushes the fly to the side of the plate. In Scotland, the fly is lifted forcibly out of the soup and squeezed over the plate, then dropped to the ground and trodden into the carpet. The Chinese consume the fly with one swallow, and then wash it down with the soup. In Jewish restaurants, particularly in New York, the diner immediately sends for the manager and complains, "Is this all I get, just one fly?" Captain Cartwright Num-Nuts, the astute commander of the latest electronic miracle battleship, the U.S.S. Turkey Shoot, proudly scans the horizon for smoke. He is standing on the deck of his observation tower, on board ship. The Turkey Shoot is floating a few miles from the coast of Florida, and Num-Nuts has just commanded the destruction of a mysterious aircraft flying too nearby. What he does not know is that he has just shot down the latest multi-billion dollar American rocket launched to explore Mars. Captain Num-Nuts strides proudly up and down the deck, sniffing the salt air and whistling the Turkey Shoot battle song, to celebrate his uncanny marksmanship. Suddenly, an aide comes running up to the captain. "Here is a special message from the admiral, sir," reports the sailor. "Read it to me, my son," says Num-Nuts, puffing out his chest, and gazing towards the horizon. "But, sir," says the sailor, "it is addressed to you personally." "Just read it to me," snaps back Captain Num-Nuts. The sailor reads, "Of all the blundering, stupid, idiotic morons, you take the cake!" Captain Num-Nuts shifts his gaze to the sailor and pauses. Then he says, "Have that decoded at once!" Luscious Miss Willing starts her new job as a waitress in the Goatburger Cafe. She approaches a table where Kowalski and Zabriski are sitting after just finishing their meal. She leans over and, cleaning away the plates, asks, "What would you gentlemen like for dessert?" "Uh, I would like raisin cake," stammers Zabriski, noticing her full, white breasts. "Okay," she says, turning to Kowalski and leaning all the way over, exposing her beautiful tits. "And is yours raisin, too?" "Well," says Kowalski, looking down at the napkin on his lap. "Yup, mine is raisin' too!" Now, Nivedano... (Drumbeat) (Gibberish) Nivedano... (Drumbeat) Be silent. Close your eyes. Feel your body to be completely frozen. Gather all your energy inwards. Look, almost like an arrow, searching deep for your center of being, because your center of being is also the center of the universe. One who knows it becomes a buddha. Deeper and deeper... This moment is precious. You are very close to your own being and to the being of the universe. Realizing it is going to transform your whole life. Without any fear... because it is your own territory, it is your own space. Nobody can enter here. It has been waiting for you for millions of lives. Just penetrate it and you will find the greatest blessing showering on you. To make it more clear, Nivedano... (Drumbeat) Relax, let go of the body and the mind. You are just a watcher. The mind may be creating some dust, the body may be feeling uncomfortable. You are simply a watcher. Don't get identified, because this body will change, this mind will change. A thousand times they have already changed. Only this watcher is your treasure, which always remains... eternity to eternity. Lao Tzu calls it Tao. Buddha calls it Dhamma. Whatever the name, this is your pure existence. It opens the doors of all the mysteries -- mysteries that you can feel, but you cannot say; mysteries that you can sing, you can dance, you can live, but you cannot say. This is the world of Zen, and experiencing existence is its language. Blessed is this evening. You have all disappeared into an oceanic love, into an oceanic consciousness, dissolving your thin boundaries. Remember this universal experience twenty-four hours, just like an undercurrent. Remain a buddha -- walking or sitting, sleeping or waking. Nivedano... (Drumbeat) Now you can come back, but come back not the same as you had gone in. Come back much more solid, much more integrated, much more centered, and then sit silently for a few moments as a buddha. Okay, Maneesha? Yes, Beloved Master. Can we celebrate the gathering of ten thousand buddhas? Yes, Beloved Master. |
THE END
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Zen The Language of Existence
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